Present for the Monday, Aug. 4 Miami Township Trustees meeting were, from left, Fiscal Officer Jeanna GunderKline, Zoning Administrator Bryan Lucas, Trustees Chris Mucher, Marilan Moir and Don Hollister. (Video still)
Township Trustees talk upcoming levy, staffing matters
- Published: August 16, 2025
The latest meeting of the Miami Township Trustees, on Monday, Aug. 4, was brief, at just about 40 minutes, and touched on a mix of financial housekeeping, staffing adjustments and long-term infrastructure planning.
The trustees unanimously rescinded and reapproved a resolution to proceed with a 3.8-mill Miami Township Fire-Rescue operations levy renewal for this fall; the reapproval followed a technical revision issued by the Greene County Auditor’s Office. A recent change in state law, Trustee Marilan Moir said, required the Township to adopt a revised resolution citing a precise revenue amount.
“It’s a real formality, but one I’m glad we caught,” Moir said.
Trustees also approved a set of policy changes recommended by consultant Fred Kauser, who was contracted last fall to assist the Township and MTFR during its ongoing transition from a volunteer to a professional agency. Kauser was first brought in after trustees hit a budgetary impasse regarding new full-time staffing; his current work focuses on analyzing and restructuring fire-rescue staffing and procedures.
Among the changes approved: extending provisional minimum staffing of two firefighters per shift through the end of 2025 to keep overtime costs at bay and scaling back the total number of full-time career staff from 10 to seven.
“We really got ahead of ourselves going to 10 full time,” Moir said, referring to the previous staffing expansion. “We’re rolling it back to seven and using the retained funds to boost part-time pay to attract part-timers.”
The board also discussed a potential overhaul of Harbison Road, which would be funded by an Ohio Public Works Commission grant; the grant application was submitted by Greene County on behalf of both Miami and Cedarville townships, through which Harbison Road runs.
Trustee Chair Chris Mucher described the project as a “complete rebuild” of the township’s section of Harbison Road, with estimated costs around $100,000. If awarded, the grant would cover most of the expenses, though the Township would still be responsible for 10% of the total cost, which Mucher said could be covered by in-kind labor from the Township.
“We probably won’t know if we’re funded until next June,” Mucher said.
In zoning news, Zoning Administrator Bryan Lucas reported one permit issued for a new build on Kyle Road and said the Board of Zoning Appeals will consider a variance request for an East Hyde Road property at its Aug. 20 meeting.
Fire Chief James Cannell was absent from the meeting while he and other MTFR staff were out on a call, so further discussion of defibrillator inventory and maintenance within the township, first introduced last month, was tabled until the next meeting.
Trustee Don Hollister noted that the Greene County Commissioners will hold a public hearing on Thursday, Aug. 21, to consider Miami Township’s request to be excluded from large-scale solar development.
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